Israeli minister ponders pull-back, Powell meets Geneva authors

Israeli minister ponders pull-back, Powell meets Geneva authors


JERUSALEM : A senior Israeli minister said in an interview he supported a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from large swathes of the Occupied Territories and said the Jewish state had no choice but to accept the creation of a Palestinian state.

His comments were published on the second day of talks in Cairo between Palestinian factions, where several movements, including Hamas, rejected an Egyptian proposal for a year-long halt to attacks on Israelis.
Meanwhile, the United States said it was more convinced than ever that the internationally backed "roadmap" was the way to achieve Middle East peace, even though US Secretary of State Colin Powell held a high-profile meeting with the architects of an unofficial, alternative peace plan, the Geneva Initiative, which is opposed by Israel.

Israeli Trade Minister Ehud Olmert, number two in the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, made clear that he was in favour of a unilateral withdrawal from the vast majority of the West Bank and Gaza Strip......

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